I have to say that this past weekend, especially Sunday was an extraordinary weekend all together. We had time for "family", we had time for "friends", we had "special" time that was dedicated to a "very special" member of our family.
My wife and I have two boys, whom are grown and gone now with their own families. However, we have been "Blessed" to have a young lady who has adopted us as her second set of parents. We had the opportunity to have her with us on Sunday and the day was just incredible! Time was spent together and also one on one. She was afforded the opportunity to learn how to crochet from my mother and also learned a "few more tricks" from the Matriarch of the family! We even had time to take the dog for a walk and have some quiet time as a Dad and a Daughter only can. We discussed several things, but one stood out to me, that is to Love one another.
I know almost no one who is contented with him or herself today. Men and women seem to be groping for something higher and beyond materialistic things. No one seems to sit alone with fortune full content. Merely making money is no longer to make good. One must be useful to others. This is the center of Jesus' teaching: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you......Love one another."
We are living in a complex world and its problems are difficult and confusing. Even in doing good one must use wisdom. We have not yet reached that point in spritual advancement where we can sell everything that we have and give it to the poor, but we have caught something of the real meaning of Jesus' teaching.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Disciple or Pretender?
It has been about a week since my last writing. It has been hectic, confusing, frustrating, but still in all, I am a child of God and I always have to remember that He is in charge! (Sometimes, very difficult to do).
I have been working with my fellow co-worker that I had mentioned in my last rendering. We have continued our discussion on being a Disciple.
We talked about how Jesus and how He healed the sick, raised the dead and taught about these miracles. As briefly as possible, I will put down in words what was said.
Unusual events always draw crowds like a magnet. Jesus saw superficial curiosity in His ministry. When word spread about His teaching and miracles, crowds gathered to hear Him speak and see Him perform miraculous healing (Matthew 4:24-25). Modern day consultants might have advised Jesus to exploit His popularity and develop the broadest following possible by avoiding controversy.
Jesus was not concerned with breaking attendance records. When the crowds reached their peak, He preached a confrontational message with such offensive content that the multitude melted away, leaving only a few devoted disciples behind (John 6:66-71). The crowd's superficial attraction to an unusual teacher did not last long. They did not like His teaching. So they rejected the miracles and returned to their former ways of living.
A few persisted. Why did they stay? Peter spoke first for them when he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life" (John 6:68). Peter followed the Lord even when Jesus lost His popularity because he knew that Christ was the exclusive source of teaching that leads to forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Peter valued those precious words more than being a part of the crowd.
I then asked some thought provoking questions of my co-worker:
Do the prevailing opinions of those around you affect your enthusiasm for the Christian life? Or do you hunger and thirst after Christ regardless of what the next guy thinks? I told him that a "TRUE" Christian will follow even when the pretenders start to fall away.
More to come on this.
On the other front, I would ask for prayers as my work situation continues to get bleaker as the months go on. We were informed Friday that we are going to 40 hours per week and that instead of working our "normal" night shift, that we are to come in at 2:30pm and work until 11:00pm. This has made many of my co-workers upset and wondering if we will really have a job next year. I know that there will be some who will search and find other work. But there are those of us, who will stick it out and see if things really do turn around. I am believing that this will be the case and would ask for prayers regarding this situation.
I have been working with my fellow co-worker that I had mentioned in my last rendering. We have continued our discussion on being a Disciple.
We talked about how Jesus and how He healed the sick, raised the dead and taught about these miracles. As briefly as possible, I will put down in words what was said.
Unusual events always draw crowds like a magnet. Jesus saw superficial curiosity in His ministry. When word spread about His teaching and miracles, crowds gathered to hear Him speak and see Him perform miraculous healing (Matthew 4:24-25). Modern day consultants might have advised Jesus to exploit His popularity and develop the broadest following possible by avoiding controversy.
Jesus was not concerned with breaking attendance records. When the crowds reached their peak, He preached a confrontational message with such offensive content that the multitude melted away, leaving only a few devoted disciples behind (John 6:66-71). The crowd's superficial attraction to an unusual teacher did not last long. They did not like His teaching. So they rejected the miracles and returned to their former ways of living.
A few persisted. Why did they stay? Peter spoke first for them when he said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life" (John 6:68). Peter followed the Lord even when Jesus lost His popularity because he knew that Christ was the exclusive source of teaching that leads to forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Peter valued those precious words more than being a part of the crowd.
I then asked some thought provoking questions of my co-worker:
Do the prevailing opinions of those around you affect your enthusiasm for the Christian life? Or do you hunger and thirst after Christ regardless of what the next guy thinks? I told him that a "TRUE" Christian will follow even when the pretenders start to fall away.
More to come on this.
On the other front, I would ask for prayers as my work situation continues to get bleaker as the months go on. We were informed Friday that we are going to 40 hours per week and that instead of working our "normal" night shift, that we are to come in at 2:30pm and work until 11:00pm. This has made many of my co-workers upset and wondering if we will really have a job next year. I know that there will be some who will search and find other work. But there are those of us, who will stick it out and see if things really do turn around. I am believing that this will be the case and would ask for prayers regarding this situation.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Who can be a Disciple?
I have been asked by one of my co-workers as to my faith and then a stunning question was asked as to who could be called a disciple!?
When Jesus walked the face of the earth, His most intimate relationship was with the twelve apostles. Men who He personally selected and called to follow Him. From a distance, we might think that a friendship with the Lord of the universe would be reserved for gifted or very religious people.
But, as I told my co-worker, take a closer look. Those twelve were people just like you and me. They were not distinguished for their natural talents or intellectual power. They were prone to mistakes, wrong attitudes, lapses in faith and bitter failures. They came mainly from ordinary occupations that never would have suggested they were candidates for spiritual success.
Yet those ordinary men had an extrodinary relationship with the Master. The talked with Him, walked with Him and heard Him teach. They even saw Him lay hands on the sick and raise the dead to new life. Eventually they heard Him call them "friends" (John 15:14-15). Imagine, "friends" with God Himself!
I then asked my co-worker if he longed for an "intimate" relationship with our God and Savior? I told him that God delights in making Himself known to those who have no special talents or pedigree. He does not look for those with earthly accomplishments, but for those who have humble hearts and bow before the authority of His Word (Isaiah 66:2)
My co-worker now has something to think about! We are contiuing our dialoge this week which is making me do even more studying than I have previously done. As we progress through this, i will continue to write more about our discussions.
When Jesus walked the face of the earth, His most intimate relationship was with the twelve apostles. Men who He personally selected and called to follow Him. From a distance, we might think that a friendship with the Lord of the universe would be reserved for gifted or very religious people.
But, as I told my co-worker, take a closer look. Those twelve were people just like you and me. They were not distinguished for their natural talents or intellectual power. They were prone to mistakes, wrong attitudes, lapses in faith and bitter failures. They came mainly from ordinary occupations that never would have suggested they were candidates for spiritual success.
Yet those ordinary men had an extrodinary relationship with the Master. The talked with Him, walked with Him and heard Him teach. They even saw Him lay hands on the sick and raise the dead to new life. Eventually they heard Him call them "friends" (John 15:14-15). Imagine, "friends" with God Himself!
I then asked my co-worker if he longed for an "intimate" relationship with our God and Savior? I told him that God delights in making Himself known to those who have no special talents or pedigree. He does not look for those with earthly accomplishments, but for those who have humble hearts and bow before the authority of His Word (Isaiah 66:2)
My co-worker now has something to think about! We are contiuing our dialoge this week which is making me do even more studying than I have previously done. As we progress through this, i will continue to write more about our discussions.
Monday, October 13, 2008
The loss of an unborn baby
Saturday afternoon, while my wife and I were taking care of errands, my cell phone rang. It was our middle son from Dibol. When I answered the phone I could tell that there was something not right. I asked him what was going on and he proceeded to explain to me that his wife had miscarried her fetus.
Last week, they went to the Doctors for an ultrasound. The Doctor had a hard time finding the baby and when they turned the volume up to hear the sound of a heartbeat, there was none. I can't imagine the shock and pain that they both must have felt at that point.
Most of us today shy away from talking about death. We are uncomfortable with this topic, because we have know no idea what death really is. Oh yes, when the heart stops beating and the lungs top breathing, the body dies. But no one knows what happens to the soul part of us. No one knows what happens to us after we die, since no one has come back thirty days after, to us that information. We have beliefs, it is true. Some of us believe that there is a Heaven and a Hell, some of us don't. But nobody knows for sure.
Between the lack of knowledge of death and the fear we all have of it, silence reigns supreme when someone dies. And I suppose it is even worse when someone dies even before their birth, or when there is a miscarriage.
What makes this such a painful experience is that such a death can be called a "double death," and it is this doubling of grief that complicates the mourning process.
First the baby died. That in itself is a tragedy. She carried the fetus for however long the term and to now be faced with the grim reality that what was growing in her body is now gone, has got to be hard for her.
But in addition, this death is also the death of her hopes, dreams and expectations for this unborn child of hers. She was already dreaming about its growing up and making friends in school, moving on to college life experiences, marriage and the birth of grandchildren. All this too has now come to an end. This is the "double death" that she is now feeling. Unfortunately, some people treat this death as something less important, unworthy of caring about.
The tragedy of it all is, that she needs for those close to her to reach out and listen to her, to treat this as "real," not something she has made up. She needs hugs from her friends and family, not silence or condescension. She needs to know they still love her, so that she can begin again to love herself and to properly prepare for the rest of her life.
I leave this prayer for my departed grandchild.
Last week, they went to the Doctors for an ultrasound. The Doctor had a hard time finding the baby and when they turned the volume up to hear the sound of a heartbeat, there was none. I can't imagine the shock and pain that they both must have felt at that point.
Most of us today shy away from talking about death. We are uncomfortable with this topic, because we have know no idea what death really is. Oh yes, when the heart stops beating and the lungs top breathing, the body dies. But no one knows what happens to the soul part of us. No one knows what happens to us after we die, since no one has come back thirty days after, to us that information. We have beliefs, it is true. Some of us believe that there is a Heaven and a Hell, some of us don't. But nobody knows for sure.
Between the lack of knowledge of death and the fear we all have of it, silence reigns supreme when someone dies. And I suppose it is even worse when someone dies even before their birth, or when there is a miscarriage.
What makes this such a painful experience is that such a death can be called a "double death," and it is this doubling of grief that complicates the mourning process.
First the baby died. That in itself is a tragedy. She carried the fetus for however long the term and to now be faced with the grim reality that what was growing in her body is now gone, has got to be hard for her.
But in addition, this death is also the death of her hopes, dreams and expectations for this unborn child of hers. She was already dreaming about its growing up and making friends in school, moving on to college life experiences, marriage and the birth of grandchildren. All this too has now come to an end. This is the "double death" that she is now feeling. Unfortunately, some people treat this death as something less important, unworthy of caring about.
The tragedy of it all is, that she needs for those close to her to reach out and listen to her, to treat this as "real," not something she has made up. She needs hugs from her friends and family, not silence or condescension. She needs to know they still love her, so that she can begin again to love herself and to properly prepare for the rest of her life.
I leave this prayer for my departed grandchild.
Dear God,
Please take the soul and spirit of this dear departed one into the sweetest corner
of your mind, the most tender place in Your heart, that they and I, might be comforted.
For now, they are gone, and I pray God, for the strength to remember they have not
gone far. For they are with You and shall remain so forever. They remain with me,
for we are all in You together. The cord that binds us one to the other cannot be cut, surely
not by death. For You dear God, have brought us together, and we remain in eternal connection.
There is no power greater than You. Death is not Your master, nor mine. These things
I believe and ask my heart to register. I surrender to You my grief. I surrender to you
my pain. Please take care of Your servant, my dear one who has passed. And please, dear Lord,
take care of me.
(Marianne Williamson)
Friday, October 3, 2008
Do our Animals go to Heaven
It has been almost four months since we had to put our Snow Shoe Siamese down. I have often wondered if our animals go to heaven? I have done a tremendous amount of research on this, both pro and con as to "if" they do infact go to heaven. I have found that if you, as a person, are "right" with God, that you will indeed once again see your companions. Pets can be loyal, loving and kind without expecting anything in return. They take on their own personalities such as Racci did.
Some 20 years ago, my wife and I while living in Lake Jackson took in a Snow Shoe Siamese that was found at the Dow Chemical Plant in Lake Jackson, Texas. It would be quite an undertaking for the both of us as neither of us where cat people and had always had dogs. At that time we had two Labrador Retrievers.
Racci Racoon was the name that we gave her. She was a little ball of tan and white fur with seal point markings and white boots on her feet. Her face resembled that of a Tabby and she took very quickly to her new home enviorment along with her 70+ lb. brother and sister.
Siamese, as we soon found out, are usually one owner pets and she quickly took to me. My wife, on the other hand, had ankles that looked as if she had walked through a brier patch. Racci would attck her first thing in the morning as she came out of the bedroom. It became apparant that Racci would have to have her front claws removed and remain as an indoor cat for most of her life if we were to keep her. My wife took her to the vet and had this done and cried when she went to pick her up and bring her home, as her feet were shaved and very small.
Racci quickly learned how to adapt to living in a house with large dogs. She would wait for them to go to sleep on the floor and would walk over to them, grab there jowel. pull it out and then walk away as if nothing had happened. She also had "her" territory" and insured that she was well protected on all sides from attack of those large dogs. She would sleep and hide under the entertainment center on the very bottom shelf. ( That is where she resides now, watching over everything that goes on).
As she progressed in age, Racci became more my wifes cat than mine. My wife would sit in her chair at night and Racci seemed quite content to curl up with her and stay there for as long as she could. Occasionally, she would get down and come over to my chair and curl up with me for a while. Her demeener seemed to be changing with age. She even would allow company to perhaps pet her, if she was in the mood. We noticed some changes in the last few months before we had her put to sleep. She normally would get up on the bed and curl up between my wife and I which she did not do. She would walk around the house and seem to get lost and stand there and cry until we came and got her.
June 23rd, was when our Lab/Ridgeback mix (Tassy) woke us up. I went into the living room and found Racci laying on her side unable to move. I quickly picked her up and got a towel and wrapped her up and put her in her bed. She had a stroke sometime during the night. My wife and I anguished over what to do, as the Vets office was closed and we could not reach them. We went to church that morning leaving her in her bed and comfortable for the time being. We came home to find still no change. We went to bed that evening praying that she would go peacefully in her sleep that night. Upon arising the next morning we found no change and we decided that it was time to put her down. I took her over to the vets and went through all of the paperwork to have her put to sleep. As the Doctor administered the shot, Racci looked up at me with those eyes that I had looked into so many times before as if to say, "It's O.K. Dad." As she drew her last breath, I bent down to kiss her on the head as I had done so many times before, but this time with tears streaming down my face.
Edwin Arnold has written a poem that describes why I feel that we will see our beloved pets again.
"Farewell Master yet not farewell,
Where I go, ye too shall dwell,
I am gone, before your face,
A moments time, a little space,
When ye come where I have stepped
Ye will wonder why ye wept."
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Gratitude
During my quiet time this morning, I happened to pick up a book that my wife and I purchased some time ago. "Then Sings my Soul" by Robert J. Morgan. While thumbing through the pages, I came upon one hymn that stood out and spoke to me. It speaks of the grace of gratitude.
The grace of gratitude should be a natural development in a Christian who has experienced the warmth and radiance of the love and mercy and forgivness of Christ. It should be as easy for us to be grateful to God as it is for a bird to sing. A rose has no power to retain and imprison its fragrance. The grace and gratitude should be just as spontaneous and irrepressible in the heart of a Christian.
We can never make a complete list of the things for which we should be thankful to God for. The truest gratitude is not concerned with mere inventories but with an overflowing sense of appreciation that covers all blessings, known and unkown. The impulse to the grace of gratitude cannot be better expressed than in the verse "Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee."
What a glorious way to begin the day!?
In His Service
The grace of gratitude should be a natural development in a Christian who has experienced the warmth and radiance of the love and mercy and forgivness of Christ. It should be as easy for us to be grateful to God as it is for a bird to sing. A rose has no power to retain and imprison its fragrance. The grace and gratitude should be just as spontaneous and irrepressible in the heart of a Christian.
We can never make a complete list of the things for which we should be thankful to God for. The truest gratitude is not concerned with mere inventories but with an overflowing sense of appreciation that covers all blessings, known and unkown. The impulse to the grace of gratitude cannot be better expressed than in the verse "Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee."
What a glorious way to begin the day!?
In His Service
Thursday, September 25, 2008
What is a Verger.....?
How did he come up with the name for this blog?I thought that I might take the time to enlighten those of you who do not know what a Verger is.
The office of verger is one of the ancient lay offices of the Church of England. The verger is, as the title implies, a man who carries a virge or rod of office. Basically and characteristically, the verger is seen in cathedrals and in parish churches, robed and virge in hand, preceeding and symbolically clearing the way for choir and clergy as they enter the church at the beginning of the service, guiding lesson readers and preachers at the appropriate times to the lectern and pulpit.
Around the basic ceremonial office gather a range of related tasks which a paticular verger may undertake, as need and circumstance require. Invariably, a verger will "welcome" people who come to church as worshippers or visitors. People seeing the verger robed, will approach him for information and advice. He must know the History of the church and must be a source of practical advice about the services in the church and the facilities. The vergers authority "MUST" be exercised with kindness and in a real sense be a pastor.
To be a good verger, you must have a solid spiritual foundation upon which your misitry is based. Yet, the irony of the situation is that many times it becomes difficult for the verger to find time to worship adequately in the middle of performing the liturgical functions of the job.
You "must" follow a spiritual discipline. While a rule of life may sound oppressive to some, it can be a simple or as detailed as seen fit. At a minimum, pray daily. Read Scripture regularly and contribute to the life and mission of your parish.
As you can see, it's not an easy job. It takes a tremendous amount of time and patience to work out all of the details with the Altar Guild, Ushers, Choir, Priests, Acolytes, etc. This is a "calling" such as a person who is called to the priesthood. My time, effort and talents are given to the Lord who is my Savior.
May God's Peace be with you.
The office of verger is one of the ancient lay offices of the Church of England. The verger is, as the title implies, a man who carries a virge or rod of office. Basically and characteristically, the verger is seen in cathedrals and in parish churches, robed and virge in hand, preceeding and symbolically clearing the way for choir and clergy as they enter the church at the beginning of the service, guiding lesson readers and preachers at the appropriate times to the lectern and pulpit.
Around the basic ceremonial office gather a range of related tasks which a paticular verger may undertake, as need and circumstance require. Invariably, a verger will "welcome" people who come to church as worshippers or visitors. People seeing the verger robed, will approach him for information and advice. He must know the History of the church and must be a source of practical advice about the services in the church and the facilities. The vergers authority "MUST" be exercised with kindness and in a real sense be a pastor.
To be a good verger, you must have a solid spiritual foundation upon which your misitry is based. Yet, the irony of the situation is that many times it becomes difficult for the verger to find time to worship adequately in the middle of performing the liturgical functions of the job.
You "must" follow a spiritual discipline. While a rule of life may sound oppressive to some, it can be a simple or as detailed as seen fit. At a minimum, pray daily. Read Scripture regularly and contribute to the life and mission of your parish.
As you can see, it's not an easy job. It takes a tremendous amount of time and patience to work out all of the details with the Altar Guild, Ushers, Choir, Priests, Acolytes, etc. This is a "calling" such as a person who is called to the priesthood. My time, effort and talents are given to the Lord who is my Savior.
May God's Peace be with you.
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